Perhaps Los Angeles Should Rejoice They Don't Have A Football Team

Teams had left cities before. But never had two teams left the same city within a few months. That's exactly what happened in Los Angeles in 1995 when both the Rams and Raiders moved out of the city of Angels. The Rams had already moved once already, from Cleveland, and the Raiders relocated to Los Angeles from Oakland. Of course it was different circumstances under which the relocation happened.

The Rams were the laughing stock of the league, and I guess they are now too. But at least now they have some memories of glory to fall back on in St. Louis, while in L.A. the sporting good stores even stopped selling Rams apparel.

The Raiders on the other hand had won a Super Bowl during their tenure. Their move was more financially based in the sense that Al Davis could get a better stadium deal by returning to Oakland.

Both teams achieved certain levels of success. May seem like a long time ago but the Rams were once the greatest show on turf and won a Super Bowl. Even the Raiders reached a Super Bowl and won three straight AFC West titles.

But pretty much at the same time, both teams began to decline. The Rams have made a few playoff appearances but nowhere near their once record setting offenses. The Raiders have had the worst record of any team in that span.

Rumors of firing both coaches, Scott Linehan and Lane Kiffin, had surfaced all season long. Even for Kiffin before the season. For Kiffin, the only thing better than getting fired could be getting fired at this exact time. The last coach Al Davis fired in his second year after a 1-3 start was a young Mike Shanahan, and things kind of worked out for him.

Los Angeles has a team in every other sport except the NFL, but with the way their former teams have played, the Los Angeline's might have chased these teams out of town. In fact, maybe Oakland and St. Louis would like to give back these teams. L.A. may be desperate for football, but everyone has their limits.